This week we’re releasing Weekend Plans. A beer that our Head Brewer Eric has been working on for a couple years now. Here is a short blog post on the creation of this beer and the branding behind it!
When Eric first thought up Weekend Plans it was because he wanted to make a Berliner-style Weiss but with oat malt instead of wheat. We called this in the brewery, Berliner Oat.
Berliner Oat started out with a fairly traditional German hop bill but we found that the lemon and lime qualities from the lactobacillus (what we use to sour up the beer a touch) went really well with the citrusy qualities of some North West hop varietals. So we switched it up. We also wanted it to be low ABV (3.9%) but still have some mouthfeel to it which is where the oat malt comes into play. With all of this we feel like Weekend Plans is an insanely refreshing beer that should go well in the midday sun we’re hopefully getting this weekend.
I’ll tell you a brief story about the label too. When I came up with the name Weekend Plans I had in my mind something that felt like you were hanging out on your porch or patio, relaxing with a beer after mowing the lawn. But keep in mind I’m 33 with a wife and child, so that is exactly how I spend my weekend. Our designer Sami on the other hand is in her 20s so when she sent me the first draft of her design ideas I had a laugh to myself as her rationale behind the design was pretty much the opposite of what was in my head:
“The thought of ‘weekend plans’ made me think of running around all over the place, doing different things every weekend. Scattering yourself around the city if you will.”
Sami and I live very different lives. Anyways, as most design decisions go I just went with Sami’s expertise and the first label of Weekend Plans was designed. However, after staring at it for a while I felt like it looked a little too close to Big Boy Pants by Twin Sails which had been released earlier in the year. We didn’t want to step on any toes so we decided to switch it up to a more Steel & Oak minimalist approach, I’ve included the original design and the new design below so you can see for yourself.
Now you’ve got some inside knowledge into how we developed Weekend Plans and the label behind it. Hope you enjoy the beer as much as we do!
Cheers,
Jorden
